Fluff, Chaff or Wheat

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In karate, martial practices or other means and methods be they one intent or another matter. Can you imagine how often this subject comes up and you probably already know what is to follow and yet it behooves all of us to review this once and again simply because it is critical to your intent in training, practices and most of all, applications. Let alone the deep and abiding understanding one must have or achieve if they have certain intentions as to why and what for their training, practice and application of it all is directed. 

Most of what is taught and tested in, say karate, is bullshit. Bullshit if any part of that discipline even in some small and indirect way involves what most think of as, “Self-Defense.” Why you ask, because your intent must be directed at a specific and the other stuff like chaff just obscures the good wheat making it unusable. 

One professional respected by his peers once stated that in karate if you are teaching a student to hold a level head throughout his kata performance then, here is where I diverge from his comment, you are not learning, teaching self-protection and defenses. I would venture to say that in most karate dojo almost 90% of what is taught and required to achieve belts or successes in that dojo are simply filler or fluff meant to provide self-soothing satisfaction for the sensei and the students as well as associated orgs and people who foster, support and propagate it as self-defense. 

Don’t obscure your objectives and intent with stuff that is not going to meet those objectives and intent especially when it comes to dealing with aggression and violence regardless of marketing through compliance influence principled efforts. 

Your first objective if even a small part of what you want, not need but want, to achieve is self-protection through self-defense defenses is to remove all the chaff, fluff and bullshit being passed on as your karate system unless you remove the defense and protection part from the discipline. 

Our brains work in very funny and particular ways in creating and manufacturing concepts that drive beliefs, perceptions and memories and obscuring the simplistic goals and objectives on your intent with such things will get you hurt or killed. 

One very critical and important reason why, of many reasons, I stopped teaching karate was simply because in my early teaching days I didn’t know this stuff and until I started to receive such information it was the type that I didn’t know I didn’t know of and why I philosophize and theorize and present first and second hand idea’s, theories and concepts from my experiences and studies so that others can test, try, use and teach a more appropriate way so they may then remove the chaff, fluff and misc bullshit in self-protection efforts of karate or martial disciplines. 

When we use our philosophies such as, “The Way,” to justify our dissonances and biases for fun and profit we are simply avoiding the truth of it at our peril. It is only by pure luck and ignorance this has not reared its ugly head to bite the system, martial and karate systems, in the ass putting dojo, sensei and senpai in peril to include jail and economic ruin. 

Something to think about, don’t let luck run out on your watch!!!!! The information and guidance is out there, you just have to let it in!

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